tura works which to the novice often seem vastly more
difficult. The very simplicity of the Schubert and Schumann songs makes
them more difficult to sing properly than the works of writers who
adopted a somewhat more complicated style. The smallest vocal
discrepancies become apparent at once and it is only by the most intense
application and great attention to detail that it is possible for the
singer to bring her art to a standard that will stand the test of these
simple, but very difficult works. Too much coloratura singing is liable
to rob the voice of its fullness and is not to be recommended as a
preparation for the singer who would become a singer of the modern art
songs. This does not mean that scales and arpeggios are to be avoided.
In fact the flexibility and control demanded of the singers of art songs
are quite as great as that required of the coloratura singer. The
student must have her full quota of vocal exercises before she should
think of attempting the Schumann Lieder.

SCHUMANN'S POPULARITY IN AMERICA

Americans seem to be particularly fond of Schumann. When artists are
engaged for concert performances it is the custom in this country to
present optional programs to the managers of the local concert
enterprises. These managers represent all possible kinds of taste. It is
the experience of most concert artists that the Schumann selections are
almost invariably chosen. This is true of the West as well as of the
South and East. One section of the program is without exception devoted
to what they call classical songs and by this they mean the best songs
rather than the songs whose chief claim is that they are from the old
Italian schools of Carissimi, Scarlatti, etc. I make it a special point
to present as many songs as possible with English words. The English
language is not a difficult language in which to sing; and when the
translation coincides with the original I can see no reason why American
readers who may not be familiar with a foreign tongue should be denied
the privilege of understanding what the song is about. If they do not
understand, why sing words at all? Why not vocalize the melodies upon
some vowel? Songs, however, were meant to combine poetry and music; and
unless the audience has the benefit of understanding both, it has been
defrauded of one of its chief delights.

Some German poems, however, are almost untranslatable. It is for this
reason that many of the works of Loewe, for inst